Newsworthy

Do you have trypanophobia?

This 13-letter word isn’t a disease or disorder, but instead describes a deeply-seeded fear and anxiety when it comes to needles in a medical setting. Needles can be scary – especially if you are already in a situation causing stress or anxiety. Thankfully at Stormont Vail Health, we have some of the absolute best professionals trained to take care of patients in any of our in-patient and out-patient facilities when it comes to everything needle-related.

The IV Therapy team at Stormont Vail houses nurses that are trained to do many important things – one of which is being the A-team, the go-to, for everything related to IVs at our hospital and other locations. Maybe there’s a patient with high-anxiety or even trypanophobia – IV Therapy is there. Sometimes there’s difficulty accessing veins – IV Therapy is there. If a nurse needs help troubleshooting best practices – IV Therapy is there. And the list goes on and on!

“As a team, we start around 40 IVs every day, but we do so many other things people don’t know about,” said Trisha Carreno, IV Therapy Charge Nurse. “We also insert midlines, PICC lines, and small bowel feeding tubes. We perform apheresis, therapeutic phlebotomy, treat occlusions and infiltrations, and do central line dressings and removals!”

Working with the IV Therapy team, it’s easy to see that they are passionate about what they do. They care deeply about the patients while doing daily rounds to prevent any infections or complications. They also show dedication by providing education for families, patients, and staff.

“If we could give advice to patients that would help with IVs, it would definitely be to try to relax, use a warm blanket, and most importantly – stay hydrated!” said Trisha Carreno.

In addition to the IV Therapy team, the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) also provides specialized training to all nurses in order to give the best care possible to our tiny patients. NICU IVs are checked hourly to prevent any harm from coming to the infants and while traditionally, IVs are placed in arms or hands, that can’t always be the case for babies that are intensive care patients.

“We try to hook IVs up to babies’ hands, but often have to use the vein in their head instead,” explained Chelsea Meyers, NICU RN. “But it’s so important because IVs are lifelines for babies. It’s how we provide them with nutrients when they’re not getting milk, blood products, and antibiotics.”

Stormont Vail is so grateful to have specialized team members that can help relieve any stress or anxiety our patients might have about needles and IVs. We will always strive to go above and beyond to deliver the care you deserve, even with pokes along the way.